Logical toy

ABSTRACT

A logical toy for the arrangement in any desired pattern of numerals, figures or other symbols printed on independent game pieces. It contains one or more lower pushers and upper pushers movable perpendicularly thereto in grooves formed on a bearing plate. The number of lower and upper pushers and the number of the game pieces can be varied as desired. The game pieces can be arranged in directions perpendicular to one another by shifting the pushers. The bearing plate and the pushers are sealed in by a transparent plate, or one provided with apertures, which is attached to the bearing plate in a permanent manner.

The subject of the invention is a logical toy which consists of a squareor oblong bearing plate provided with longitudinal and transversegrooves and with guide blocks rising out of the plane of the plate atthe four corners, and of an upper pusher sliding in two directions,whose width is determined by the guide blocks, and furthermore of atleast one lower pusher moving perpendicularly to the direction ofmovement of the upper pusher, and of a certain number of square gamepieces, 11 game pieces in a preferred exemplary embodiment, on whichnumerals, designs or other symbols are printed. The bearing plate formsa single plane with the pushers moving in the grooves and with theindependent square game pieces disposed side by side in the recesses ofthese pushers: the structure consisting of the components assembled inthis manner is sealed up by a cover plate provided preferably withcircular openings or with openings corresponding to other regulargeometrical shapes, or a transparent cover plate having no openings,which is fastened to the bearing plate in a known manner by anunreleasable bond.

In this manner, the square game pieces which can be movedperpendicularly to one another within the flat, oblong structure, andwhich are shifted about by the pushers in the direction of theirmovement, are visible through the openings in the cover plate or throughthe transparent cover plate; and the numerals, designs or symbols can bearranged by operating the pushers in correct logical sequence, in apredetermined order corresponding to the content which the pieces bearin combination.

In a logical toy in accordance with the invention which is constructedaccording to a preferred exemplary embodiment, at least two of thesquare game pieces are concealed by the cover plate; thus only ninenumbers or designs are visible through the openings in the cover plate.The other three "blind" or "fake" openings are reserved for thecombination possibilities resulting from the displacement of thepushers, on the basis of the game pieces which are concealed by thecover plate in the basic position, and which by the manipulation of thepushers are brought under the "windows", i.e., the openings in the coverplate, and by such manipulation can cooperate in the production of thepredetermined logical combination, e.g., the configuration of thesequence of the numbers or of a certain picture.

Flat toys which can be carried about in the pocket and are constructedin the form of a quadrilateral body and in which a logical order, e.g.,numerical order, can be produced by the displacement of square plates,are already known. Such a toy is, for example, the American toyoperating on the principle of the shifting about of square plates anddistributed under the name, "Sam Lloyd's Fifteen Puzzle". The square,flat body is divided into squares and fifteen square plates can beshifted about horizontally and vertically. The space of the sixteenthplate is empty; thus, the establishment of the order can be achieved byshifting the square plates about and making proper use of the emptysquare. The object of the game is the arrangement of the numbers on theplates, in the course of which--that is, in the performance of the stepsrequired for the arrangement--only one plate can be moved away from itsspace at a time.

It can be proven mathematically that only half of the possiblecombinations of a set consisting of 15 plates can be achieved byshifting them about using the 15 plates and one empty space.

The purpose of the logical toy in accordance with the invention istherefore the expansion of the combinations achievable by this toy, andthe creation of the possibility of making the combinations morechangeable. The basic principle departs substantially from that of theknown toys having the same purpose.

The composition and the inner structure of the toys according to theinvention will be described hereinbelow in conjunction with a number ofexamples, with the aid of the appended drawings. In the drawings,

FIG. 1 shows the logical toy in the assembled state, in an exemplaryembodiment,

FIG. 2 is a view of the bearing plate,

FIG. 3 is also a view of the upper slide element,

FIG. 4 is a view of one of the lower slides,

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the cover plate,

FIG. 6 is a toy having 5 pushers and 10 game pieces,

FIG. 7 is a logical toy having 3 pushers and 11 game pieces, withoutcover plate,

FIG. 8 shows a logical toy having 6 pushers and 15 game pieces,

FIG. 9 is a toy having 4 pushers and 32 game pieces, and finally

FIGS. 10 and 10a are a view of, and a section through, respectively apusher provided with a resilient binding element.

The bearing plate 1 is divided by three longitudinal grooves 2 into twowider rectangles 3 and two narrower rectangles 3a. The bearing plate 1itself is also oblong, and on each of its four corners a projectingsquare block 5 is formed. The base area of the block is the same as thatof game pieces 14 described later. On the two shorter sides of the twowider rectangles 3, a total of four short grooves 6 are created,extending all the way to the transverse grooves 2. Likewise on the twoends of each of the inner, narrower rectangles 3a separated by grooves2, oblong stops 7 are formed which project from the level of therectangles by one-half of the height of the blocks 5. On the bearingplate 1 there is thus formed, perpendicular to the horizontal grooves 2,a slideway on which an upper pusher 8 (FIG. 3) can move vertically abovethe grooves 2. The upper pusher 8 is so constructed that, at the sidesof the rectangle whose width is the same as that of the slideway andwhose thickness is the same as that of the bearing plate, an oblongprojection 9 corresponding to the length of a row of game pieces iscreated, so that one of these oblong projections reaches above theslideway of the bearing plate depending on the size of the game pieces.On the bottom surface of the upper pusher 8 three sides of the oblongprojection 9 are surrounded by a rim 10 which may abut against the twowider, oblong projections 16 separated by grooves 6 and situated on thebearing plate. Accordingly, the upper pusher cannot fall out of thestructure.

In addition to the upper pusher 8, two additional lower pushers 11 areto be found in the structure. These two pushers 11 are shaped such thatthey can move in the grooves 2, i.e., perpendicularly to the directionof movement of the wider pusher 8. At each end of the lower pushers 11there is a hood 12 which is open on one side and fits like a cap overthe oblong stops 7, and a yoke 13 sliding in the grooves 2 and joiningthe hoods 12 together.

As a result of this design, the bottom pushers 11 can be shifted to theright and left by a distance corresponding to the basic division, i.e.,one side of the game pieces. The upper pusher 8 can move the samedistance upwardly and downwardly, perpendicularly to the pushers 11.During assembly, first the bottom pushers 11 are laid in the grooves 2of the bearing plate 1; then the upper sliding element is placedvertically upon it. The bottom surface of the vertical, recessed portionof the pusher 8 is selected such that on this portion a certain numberof game pieces 14, totaling nine in this embodiment, can be disposed,two game pieces 14 being provided in the open space between two blocks 5on the bearing plate 1 on the lower pushers 11. On the structurecomposed in this manner there is fastened a cover plate 15 by means ofknown fastening means which are not removable, such that the numbers,figures or symbols drawn on the play elements 14 are visible throughnine apertures in the cover plate, while three openings on the coverplate 15 are "blind" or "fake" openings through which play elements 14are not visible.

It is obvious that, on the basis of the basic principle of thestructure, the toy can also be constructed such that pushers 11 matchingthe size of the game pieces are disposed for displacement in the groovesin the bearing plate, i.e., pushers 11 of uniform width. It is alsoobvious that each end of the pushers extends beyond the edge of thebearing plate 1. The arrangement of the upper and lower pushers can alsobe varied in number and division. A number of possible constructions areshown in the examples in FIGS. 6, 7, 8 and 9. From these embodiments itis clearly evident that the system of the invention creates thepossibility of selecting any desired number of playing elements,depending on the purpose for which they are to be used, and that thepushers of uniform width moving parallel to one another can be joinedtogether however desired, thereby making it possible to increase thedifficulty or complexity of the game.

Another possibility (shown in FIGS. 10 and 10a) is to provide betweenthe hood-like ends of the playing elements a joining element 17 madefrom an elastic material, such as a rubber band, whose two stiff endsare disposed in the trough of the pushers 11'. These elastic joiningelements permit the pusher to be shifted in either direction by adistance corresponding to one unit, and then they restore it to itsinitial position. The pushers of the logical toy constructed inaccordance with the present embodiment are to be displaced in only onedirection; the next (restoring) movement is performed by the elasticjoining element, e.g., rubber band. The performance of the manual stepscan be accelerated in this manner.

The logical toy of the invention operates as follows:

By the displacement of one of the lower pushers 11, a total of four gamepieces--if the logical toy has 4 game pieces in a row--can be moved inone direction (of these, three are visible through the openings in thecover plate 15, the fourth is concealed). By the manipulation of the twolower pushers 11, the advancement of a total of eight game pieces 14 inthe same or in opposite directions is made possible. The upper pusher 8can move a total of nine visible game pieces perpendicularly to thedirection of movement of the lower pushers 11.

On the basis of the above it is obvious that an extraordinarily greatnumber of combinations can be produced by such manipulation. One gameobject, for example, if the playing elements are marked with numbers, isto arrange the numbers in a predetermined order. The one who achievesthe arrangement of the numbers with the fewest moves wins the game. Theplaying elements can, of course, contain designs or other symbols which,after they have been moved in the predetermined logical sequence,constitute a desired pattern or picture.

The logical toy constructed in accordance with the invention makespossible numerous combinations and variations. It develops logicalthinking, and especially challenges growing children to think of how toperform a minimum number of logical steps.

The logical toy in accordance with the invention is furthermore suitablefor the simpler and more economical achievement of the mosaic patternsproduced by electrical circuits as known in the advertising field.

I claim:
 1. Logical toy for the grouping together of a certain number ofgame pieces which are visible in the basic position and a certain numberof invisible game pieces containing numbers, figures or other symbols,comprising: a bearing plate having a base plane and also having aplurality of mutually perpendicular grooves disposed in said base plane,rectangles separated by the grooves and projecting from the base plane,and blocks extending from the base plane at the four corners thereof;first pushing means disposed in the grooves for horizontal displacement,and second pushing means disposed above said first pushing meansperpendicular thereto and guided by the blocks; a certain number ofessentially square game pieces disposed on said second pushing means;and a cover plate, provided with openings or transparent windows,fastened unreleasably to the bearing plate and covering said bearingplate, pushing means and game pieces.
 2. Logical toy of claim 1, whereinthe number and arrangement both of the game pieces and of the first andsecond pushing means is variable.